CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

fat    →   mast

Fats are esters of glycerol and long chain carboxylic acids. Fats occur widely in plants and animals as a means of storing food energy, having twice the calorific value of carbohydrates. Fats derived from plants and fish generally have a greater proportion of unsaturated fatty acids than those from mammals. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure and composition. Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature.

Plant oils may be hardened by the addition of hydrogen atoms, converting double bonds to single bonds. This process is known as hydrogenation. Hydrogenated vegetable oils are often present in margarine and other processed foods.

Alkali hydrolysis of fat with sodium hydroxide it gives glycerol and soap (i.e. a mixture of the sodium salts of the fatty acids).

saponification    →   saponifikacija

Saponification is a proces of hydrolysis of esters using hot sodium hydroxide solution to produce the salt of a carboxylic acid. Saponification usually refers to the hydrolysis of esters of fatty acids to manufacture soaps.

soap    →   sapun

Soap is a salt of a fatty acid. For example, sodium stearate is a soap made by neutralizing stearic acid. Commercial soaps are mixtures of fatty acid salts.

wax    →   vosak

Wax is an ester formed from long-chain fatty acids and alcohols that is usually solid at room temperature.

tryglyceride    →   triglicerid

Triglyceride is an ester of glycerol and three fatty acids. It is the main constituent of vegetable oil and animal fats. The fatty acids attached to the glycerol can be the same or different. Natural fatty acids found in plants and animals are typically composed only of even numbers of carbon atoms (usually from 16 to 20) due to the way they are bio-synthesized from acetyl CoA.

unsaturated fat    →   nezasićena mast

Unsaturated fats, which include one or more unsaturated fatty acid, are liquid at room temperature (oil) and come from plant oils such as olive, peanut, corn, sunflower, safflower, and soybean. The fish oils may also be high in unsaturated fatty acids.

acid halide    →   kiselinski halogenid

Acid halide is organic compound containing the group -COX where X is a halogen atom.

acetate    →   acetat

1. Acetate is an ion formed by removing the acidic hydrogen from acetic acid, HC₂H₃O₂.

2. Acetate is a compound derived by replacing the acidic hydrogen in acetic acid.

3. Acetate is a fibre made of cellulose acetate.

acid radical    →   kiseli radikal

Acid radical is an anion left after removal of hydrogen atoms from an acid.

acid salt    →   kisela sol

Acid salt is a compound formed by replacing hydrogen in an acid with a metal (or a radical that acts like a metal).